Despite months of high interest rates, inflated prices and uncertainty about the future, consumer confidence was beginning to improve in July, according to the Conference Board’s Consumer Confidence Index. But confidence has yet to fully recover.
“Confidence increased in July, but not enough to break free of the narrow range that has prevailed over the past two years,” the Conference Board’s Chief Economist Dana M. Peterson said in a July 30 statement. “Even though consumers remain relatively positive about the labor market, they still appear to be concerned about elevated prices and interest rates, and uncertainty about the future; things that may not improve until next year.”
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Peterson added that “consumers were somewhat less pessimistic about the future. Expectations for future income improved slightly, but consumers remained generally negative about business and employment conditions ahead…”
The report from the non-partisan, not-for-profit think tank also said that consumers plan to spend less over the next six months on many discretionary items, including gambling, amusement parks and personal travel. They also plan to purchase less expensive services, such as streaming a film instead of going to a movie theater.
Consumers’ reluctance to spend on discretionary items, such as gambling, amusement and personal travel might already be affecting the financial performance of some tourist destinations, such as Las Vegas, based on July gaming revenue figures released by the state of Nevada.
Las Vegas Strip casino win revenue in July 2024 plummeted by 15% year-over-year to $709.2 million, while the three-month win revenue from May 1 to July 31, fell by 3% to $2.2 billion year-over-year, the Nevada Gaming Control Board reported in its monthly revenue report.
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The Strip’s large monthly decline helped push the state of Nevada’s win revenue down by 6.9% to $1.3 billion in July compared to the previous year when licensees reported $1.4 billion, which was the second highest win revenue amount in state history. The three-month win revenue decreased by 0.6% to $3.9 billion from May through July.
Downtown Las Vegas fared better in July with win revenue rising by 9.8% to $71.8 million year-over-year and three-month revenue from May through July rising 5.6% to $212.9 million. Reno’s win revenue, however, declined 4.1% to $69.2 million, and its three-month win revenue from May through July also fell 4.1% to $198.7 million.
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Gaming Control Board analyst Michael Lawton said the revenue results were not as alarming as they might seem because of the high bar set with the second highest win total in state history one year earlier.
“No, I would not call this the start of a downturn,” Lawton told the Las Vegas Review-Journal. “This was a very difficult comparison as July of ’23 was the second highest win total in state and Strip history due to a very difficult baccarat comp related hold.”
Table hold is the percentage of money won by casinos on their games. The July 2024 table hold was 14.39% compared with 17.62% in July 2023, which was the highest in 37 years.
Fewer visitors to Vegas may have played a role in lower win revenue, as Las Vegas visits were reportedly down 0.4% to 3.5 million July compared to the same month in 2023, according to the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority.
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